Changing and Modifying Goals

In times past, I used to get very upset with myself if I had to ever modify the completion date of a goal. I completed Marine Corps Recruit Training, almost the entire time having strep throat and pneumonia. The medical personnel would not let me in the pool for swim qualification the first day, so I had to sneak my way past them in order to qualify as a competent swimmer; this being required for me to graduate BT Camp on time. Throughout the rest of my 8.5 year career in the Marine Corps, I would kill myself to make goals happen [not kill myself literally, just work through or force the round peg into the square hole]. In part because of this, I had to leave the Marines earlier than I wanted to because the stress and health problems caught up with me.

Now that I am older, I choose to work smarter, not harder and part of that is because I am now more open to changing and/or modifying my goals. Having the ability to change your goals may depend greatly on if you complete that goal, or not. Do you remember the SMART goals? Just for a refresher, SMART goals are:

S = Specific
M = Measurable
A = Attainable
R = Relevant
T = Time-bound

What if you're working towards a goal and you realize it is unattainable? Of course you will have to modify that goal to make it attainable [such as you run into a law stating it is not legal to proceed as you had planned with a business, etc].

A goal can also cease to be relevant because you change your mind about your career, such as you had planned on getting your paralegal certification, but instead you change your mind and want to become a chef.  Those listed above are only a couple of examples, but you see my point.

What is a goal you are struggling with right now that might need to be modified? If you cannot afford a life coach, grab a coffee with a friend who cares about your goals and talk it out. The more you talk about your goals or write details about it in planning, the more likely you are to completing it.

Recently, I've had to roll back the time frame in which I will complete my Master's degree in Business Administration because the full time course load was getting to be too much for me. It will get done, but it will take about six months longer than I had expected it to, unfortunately. Ultimately, this will help the quality of my work and I will get more out of the education I am receiving, but it was still a little bit of a let-down.

If you struggle for too long trying to accomplish a goal; do yourself a favor and modify it. Not doing so will add undue stress to your life, but a modified goal is like getting your second wind in a race; you start doubting if you can maintain your pace until the end, but then you get that extra boost of a second wind and you power through even faster. If you are currently struggling with a goal, please do yourself a favor and give yourself that second wind.

Dreams On Motivation

I Kept Having Dreams About Motivation and the Following Are Pieces of That Dream:

Motivation is the currency that makes energy worth something. You can have energy and not the motivation to do something useful with it. You can be physically tired, but if you retain a hold on motivation, you will be driven to continue on the path to success. Motivation is oftentimes the difference between victory and defeat. You can see this difference in sports teams who get behind in points; a team without motivation will give a lackluster performance and just try to wait it out until the final buzzer sounds. A team WITH motivation will use the points deficit as fuel to increase their desire to win, and that is where you see many of the fantastic plays, moves, tricks and exceptional feats of athleticism as well as the most amazing comebacks in sports history.

Motivation is a driver and is related to personal drive. Collectively, it is called esprit de corps. Sometimes we marvel at people we hear about, people we see or watch on television; wondering how they can get up time after time after seemingly being defeated. How do they continue to have the motivation time after time to come back after setbacks? Where does that motivation come from?
In my occupation, I run into people who aren't very good at life.I have seen them try something once and then give up because it didn't work. Much of the time, if they would have done something just a little bit different, it would have worked. Yet it didn't work the first time, so they give up. Motivation after failure must be cultivated and nurtured. It must be a personality trait that is engrained deeply; the more it's engrained, the more trying you will see after failure.



To be motivated after failure requires a person to have the belief they will eventually succeed. Motivation, in the beginning, comes from a belief that one will succeed at the task or sustained activity they are motivated to perform. I think there are a lot of people out there that have a lot of talent, but they do not have enough motivation to cultivate it into amazing. I see these talented people run into a little hardship in developing their talent and then stop right there, refusing to go forward because the going is rough. Are you one of these talented people who are averse to difficulties or adversity? Maybe you should work at cultivating motivation, if this is the case. You may find that with some degree of perseverance, you can accomplish some of your dreams.

We all have motivation in one form or another. Maslow's Holistic-Dynamic Theory has outlined that our motivations start out at very basic needs such as food, shelter and clothing to the most complex platforms such as the need to create a masterpiece BECAUSE you have it in your power to do so, or the need to influence an entire generation because you have the requisite skills and knowledge. Part of getting to higher-level needs is making sure your lower needs are met, but ever-higher needs are harder to be motivated to attain.

Being motivated can be a habit that is developed. It requires discipline and a strong desire to succeed. Motivation is oftentimes contagious. Who doesn't like to be around or work with motivated people. Build motivation by strengthening your character; incorporating a can-do, indomitable attitude into your identity. Find things in your background, heritage or experiences that can develop your motivation to succeed. Lastly, and this may seem obvious, but let yourself be motivated.

Thanks for tuning in to today's post. Be motivated and do good.